FIFA rankings: Spain to end 2013 as number one

The last edition of the FIFA/Coca Cola World Rankings for the year 2013 is out. Spain continue to lead the rankings with 1507 points followed by Germany & Argentina.

Ukraine are the highest movers in the standings. The team managed by Ukranian Mykhaylo Fomenko gained 29 places from their last year’s position thanks to a year in which they lost just the one game against France in the 2014 World Cup Qualification play-off second leg.

Apart from that, the team managed an impressive 9 wins and a draw in all matches including International friendlies. As a result, they have gained 312 points since December 2012 and have clinched the Mover of The Year title for the first time.

It has also been a particularly fruitful year for Armenia and the USA, who have gained more than 200 points each and are now ranked 35th and 14th respectively.

The United States also became the top ranked team from the CONCACAF region displacing Mexico from that spot thanks largely to an impressive World Cup Qualifying performance in which they topped their group comfortably. There has been a similar change in the AFC region with Iran replacing Japan as the top ranked Asian team.

By gaining 70 points, Iran have been the biggest movers by points if the latest edition of the rankings alone are considered. Seychelles are the biggest movers by ranks (24 ranks). Cuba have been the biggest losers by both points and ranks in the latest edition and are currently ranked at No.100 in the world.

In 2013, the results of 918 matches have been taken into account to formulate the rankings, many of which were friendlies (415) and more than a third of which (347) were qualifying matches for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The next FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking will be published on 16 January 2014.